Rebel Hearts
by mistyblue814
Summary: A small collection of short (mostly fluff), domestic Kalluzeb fics. {Zeb and Kallus pairing fics}
1. A Little Sleepy

**_Chapter Summary: After a very long mission and staying up for days, Kallus goes back to his quarters for sleep. He wakes up to find Zeb waited for him._**

After punching in the code to his door, Kallus almost sighed with relief as he heard the familiar shuffling sound of the door opening. After stepping in, Kallus pressed a hand against the wall and felt for the switch to close the door again. While doing so, he turned on one of the lights, grumbling a bit as he squinted his eyes to try and briefly get used to the light, he finally heard the door shut behind him. That sigh of relief actually made it out. The next thing was Kallus holding his hand on the wall beside him to try and keep his balance as he clumsily forced his boots off his feet using his feet.

Finally, looking up Kallus saw the blurry world around him, but recognized his couch not too far in the distance. Perhaps it was good that he turned one of the lights on.

Walking to it, Kallus almost tumbled over something, probably his own shoe, he deducted. However, he managed to get there in one piece. And once he was there, he dropped onto the couch, grunting after he landed before letting out a slight groan. He barely felt the soft cushioning under him, but he moved to curl on the couch anyway, using his folded arm as a pillow. Luckily enough it was long enough to fit him when he bent his legs and he was able to find a comfortable position.

He didn't realize that he had fallen asleep until he heard the faint beeping of someone putting in the code to the door and the slight sound of it opening in the fogginess of his sleepy mind. Kallus didn't know if he decided to stay as he was because he knew the person who opened the door or because at that point he was too tired to care.

Zeb didn't even knock at the door to come in. He knew the code to unlock it and usually came in without any invitation. Kallus didn't mind then and he didn't mind now. He considered this place Zeb's home as well a long time ago from all the times that he visited and stayed overnight.

Kallus barely gave a thought to give a greeting. He was already starting to fall back into his much needed sleep. To his credit, Zeb didn't call out to him either. He usually didn't yell out a greeting when he came in, but he wasn't always quiet either.

In his hazy mind Kallus wasn't sure if he heard Zeb's footsteps walking around the apartment or if it was just his imaginative dreams. Not too many moments later, Kallus felt the soft heaviness of the blanket gently being draped over his body. Already feeling the heat from his body being trapped in by it to keep him warm, Kallus unconsciously snuggled more into the tuck in his arm before falling back into his sleep.

Kallus couldn't remember much after that. His door opening and shutting again a couple of times, movement of footsteps around him, beeping of some machine in his kitchenette area, but it was through the haze of sleep and Kallus barely remembered them by the time that he woke up.

He didn't know how long he was sleeping till, but waking up almost felt worse than when he wanted to go to to sleep. His mind felt heavy and like he was growing a headache by the seconds. Moving on the couch, Kallus forced himself to sit up, though slowly, and felt his bones cracking a couple of times with the movement. Letting out a low groan, Kallus first heard a small laugh.

"I didn't think that would be comfortable," Zeb replied while sitting at the table a little farther back.

Kallus grunted a bit, moving up to sit a bit more before finally opening his eyes and looking around. The one light was still on, creating a soft glow in the quarters. Kallus blinked a couple of times to try and clear his mind, but it seemed to only make things worse.

"What time is it?" Kallus asked him, noticing that Zeb had a holobook out.

"2200," Zeb answered, "or almost there."

Kallus sighed. No wonder his mind felt heavy. He slept for five hours, but knew that his body was aching for more. Rubbing his head, Kallus then brought up his other hand to rub both hands over his eyes. Letting out another sigh, Kallus looked back up, trying to stretch out a bit more on the couch and feeling another crack from his muscles.

"You alright?" Zeb asked. Kallus could hear the slight concern in his voice, though he tried to hide it.

"I'm fine," Kallus confirmed. "Just tired."

"I figured," Zeb agreed. "You only made it to the couch before crashing."

"Barely," Kallus muttered, looking over the back of the couch to see that his shoes were still sprawled everywhere. "I was up for over 36 hours going between bases for different missions or information."

"I heard that you had time spent for the past while," Zeb agreed, turning off the holobook before moving out of the chair, a squeal of the chair legs on the ground made Kallus cringe.

"Not even my personal best record," Kallus muttered, running his hands over his eyes again. Perhaps part of the reason why he felt so still was because he was still in his daytime mission clothing.

Kallus sighed and looked up at Zeb as the Lasat walked to him.

"I hope you weren't waiting for me," Kallus told him. "You could have helped yourself to the bed."

The Lasat just shrugged, stopping at the back of the couch near Kallus's head. He leaned against the couch and crossed his arms as he leaned on it, looking down at the human.

"I thought I could wait. I was reading one of those holobooks you kept talking about," Zeb answered.

The human male snorted, a smile appearing on his face.

"I'm sure that was entertaining for you," Kallus commented. Kallus had always commented to Zeb that he should read more, but he knew that Zeb was not a reader. And Kallus had a particular taste in classical literature that most found harder to read.

But Zeb just shrugged again.

"It kept me interested," Zeb answered before looking over his shoulder. "Do you want anything to eat? I got some food stored in your fridge from when I left to get some."

Kallus shook his head.

"I don't think my body would digest it," Kallus admitted. Even the thoughts of picturing food in his mind was already starting to make him feel nauseous. "I'm still too tired and I've got the worse headache."

The Lasat nodded and gave Kallus a sympathetic smile.

"That mean you're moving to the bed?" Zeb asked.

Kallus nodded, already moving to bring his legs off the side of the couch. His feet were tangled in the blanket slightly before finding their freedom. As Kallus moved off of the bed, he swayed a bit in unbalance before catching it again. The blanket fell off and was crumpled on the floor and when Kallus looked down at it, he saw it was the top blanket from the bed. After picking it up, Kallus felt his brain pounding more from the movement. He closed his eyes and breathed in before feeling Zeb's hand at his shoulder.

"Come on," Zeb told him gently, helping Kallus move and keep his balance as Kallus tried to focus on not walking into everything through a hazed mind.

Setting the blanket on the bed, Kallus then moved past Zeb, a bit more confident on his feet, to the refresher. He could hear Zeb's clothes heaping to the ground before he came back out, already trying his best to get out of his work clothes. His jacket was easy to get off, no matter how slowly Kallus did it. As Kallus took off his next outer shirt, only leaving the under shirt left, he heard slight squeaking in the bed from Zeb getting in it. After loosing his pants Kallus made his way to the bed, only to trip slightly on the shirt he just dropped. After last minute holding balance on the bed before falling, he let out a grumble and heard Zeb laugh lightly, making the whole bed shake.

"Karabast," Kallus grumbled, forcing himself into the bed, the soft bed and moving under the covers of safety where he could not trip over another thing.

Soon finding Zeb's body in the dark, Kallus moved up against him while still feeling the bed moving lightly from the laughs still even though they ended. Moving closer, Kallus felt a shift in the bed as Zeb moved so that it was easier for Kallus to rest up against him under his arm, even if Kallus faced with his back to him so he could sleep on his side, using Zeb's arm slightly as a pillow.

Before Kallus found himself in a completely comfortable position, he was already asleep and barely felt the small hand through his hair; but what he did feel was safe.


	2. Nightmares

**_Chapter Summary: Kallus still has nightmares. Zeb helps._**

 _He felt so anxious, the knowledge of something was walking behind him._

 _Something._

 _Someone._

 _He knew who it was. He recognized the rhythm of the steps, the particular way he walked. Force, he had a particular way to do everything._

 _Every time Kallus looked back there was nothing but darkness, a field of black._

 _He'd try to walk again, walking into another field of black in front of him, feeling as though he was going nowhere._

 _"Kallus…"_

 _His voice was a whisper, a threatening tone that dripped of liquid poison._

 _Kallus tried to speed up his walking, hoping that there would be something visible in the darkness that surrounded him. He heard the steps behind him stay at the same pace, yet somehow they were getting louder as though they were getting closer._

 _"Kallus…"_

 _Kallus tried to speed up, but his legs suddenly felt tight, like he was stepping in deep mud. He gasped, trying to pull away as he heard the footsteps stop behind him._

 _Taking deep breaths, Kallus closed his eyes for a couple of moments. After a couple of seconds, Kallus opened his eyes and turned around, sure that he was ready to face Thrawn._

 _Except the the Grand Admiral wasn't there._

 _Slightly confused, Kallus turned to keep heading foreward before he was suddenly met with Thrawn's face close up, his eyes large and red and boring into his soul._

 _"KALLUS!"_

Kallus awoke with an electric gasp. He felt himself panting as he laid still on the bed. He felt frozen for a moment, before the prickles came all over his skin. They tickled and felt ice-cold. He tried to take in a breath, but he felt as though he couldn't breathe.

He felt callused yet soft hands on his cheeks. His own hands flew up to take them, his hands resting on the other after his hands fumbled out of the blanket. The feeling, even if he knew who they were to, made Kallus almost jump out of his skin and his eyes searched wildly to see the face of the person he was looking for.

Zeb's face instantly came to his eyesight. Although he always was there since he woke up, it was like it was Kallus's first time noticing that he was actually there. Zeb's own face was full of worry as he looked over Kallus's look of terror.

"Easy. Easy, Kal," Zeb told Kallus gently, his voice soft yet somehow with a light command to keep Kallus's attention on him. "Just me here."

Kallus's wide eyes stared at Zeb for a couple of seconds before his panting started to slow. He felt his shoulders start to relax and Zeb saw him start to lean into the bed again. Zeb's hands followed as they still kept their hold on Kallus.

"Easy, Kal, you're shaking. It was just a nightmare," Zeb told him, feeling Kallus's own hold on his hands start to loosen. "It's alright. It was only a nightmare."

Was he shaking? Kallus couldn't tell.

He watched Kallus nod as an answer before gulping. Zeb sighed and moved his own hands from Kallus's face as well. He rested a bit more comfortably on Kallus's bed again, though he was still tucked on his side, still staring over on the pillows at the other as the two lay under the sheet. The room was quiet except for their breathing. It was late at night, or every early in the morning hours. Almost everyone was asleep by this point.

Kallus slowly felt more relaxed as he laid under the sheets again. His breathing was a bit more shallow and regular. It was a dream. Thrawn wasn't there. He didn't need to be looking over his shoulder constantly anymore. He was in his own room at Phoenix Home Base. He wasn't on an Imperial ship and he wasn't in a cell.

Zeb was there. He was safe.

Kallus tried to relax in the bed, his still slightly wide eyes looking over at Zeb as well.

"It was Thrawn again, huh?" Zeb asked.

Kallus nodded. When was it not. Thrawn and Pryce were the only ones who ever haunted his mind anymore. There were events but, nothing gave him a terror like the Thrawn in his dreams.

Zeb hated how the Grand Admiral still got to him. It was weeks ago since Kallus escaped. Zeb still didn't know the whole story of what happened. Kallus didn't want to go into too much detail. He was proud of Kallus though, especially of the part where he fought Thrawn and then managed to take down Imperial bucket heads with his arms cuffed behind his back. The shiner Thrawn gave him had finally almost completely faded. It ended up completely swelling a couple of days after the incident, but it looked well now. And his split lip was healed too.

The nightmares still seemed to come though. Zeb started noticing that Kallus was more tired than what he should be during the day. Then he overheard some pilots talking about seeing Kallus in the mess hall very late at night and Zeb could place the pieces together after that.

Zeb started to sleep in Kallus's bed after that. It was actually a nice change. He liked laying with Kallus and Kallus's bed was a lot bigger than his. It allowed them to actually lay down without them Zeb having to pile up completely on the other man. Although, that also did have it's upside too. But at least in Kallus's room there was privacy. And the bed was also a lot comfier than the bedroll he had.

And honestly, Kallus felt relieved to have Zeb there as well. He found that he didn't have nightmares so easily and when he did, Zeb was there when he woke up to comfort him.

Like now.

Zeb gently brought a hand to Kallus's cheek again, watching how his eyes were still wide and in another place.

"Kal?" he asked. "It's just us here."

The blonde man stared back up at Zeb from across the pillows. Zeb watched his brows twist in confusion and then in a bit of pain. His frown made one appear on Zeb's face before the Lasat slowly itched his way across the bed and closer to the blonde.

When he was closer, Zeb looked down at Kallus again and heard him whisper, "why won't he just leave me alone? He is always worse in my dreams."

Zeb sighed and saw Kallus start to curl in a bit on himself. The Lasat pulled the blonde closer and let him curl against Zeb's chest and in his arms. He felt Kallus hid himself against Zeb, needing the hard frame as a type of shield of comfort. Zeb tightened his hold on the blonde and sighed, holding Kallus until he fell back to sleep without another word. He oculd only hope the next dream would be better.


	3. Stuck in the Med-Bay

_**Chapter Summary: After a run-in with Thrawn and his ship crashing, Kallus is left in the med-bay. Zeb comes to visit.**_

The pressure in Kallus's head was causing a deep, pounding ache in his foggy mind. The instant he started to wake up, the soft glow behind his eyes slowly becoming brighter and brighter, Kallus's fogged mind felt so pressurized that he swore two metal walls were squeezing together, trying to crush his brain. It almost hurt more than when he remembered why he was put under in the first place. The faint beeping was the first thing that Kallus heard, the annoying high pitched sound that made his pressurized head worse and made him almost nauseous.

Next was the faint buzzing from the other monitors and the movement from outside the room. Maybe with his fogged, pounding mind the buzzing felt worse.

The next feeling came fro the rest of his body. The feeling was slow, going from head to toe. The first pain was a small poking pain at the side of his head. The first deep, tight, ache was in his shoulders and then into his ribs.

An odd feeling stood out though: the warm, soft hand that was in his, holding a tight but comfortable grip. A feeling of relief flowed through Kallus, as surprised as he was that the person was here, he was glad.

Wincing slightly as he tried to open his mouth, Kallus felt like he was running up against strong winds to get his mind to function as he wanted it too again. After what felt like hours, a couple of seconds later Kallus opened his mouth to try and talk. He heard a shift and slight scrape of a chair from beside him and it made him wince again. After a second try, he heard a voice come out.

"Zeb?" as crackly, and strained as it was, it was a voice.

"Right here, Kal," Zeb's voice sounded a lot more confident than his tone wise, but there was also a gentleness to it.

Hearing another screech of the chair, Kallus soon felt another hand at his cheek with another soft gentle touch and familiar feel of Zeb's fur. Pulling through the lighter ache that was now going through his legs, he forced his heavy eyelids to open. His head nodded forward a bit, feeling a rush in his mind before it stabilized slowly. He tried to focus on the purple blurry blob in front of him that he knew was Zeb. As soon as things came into focus, he felt that his eyes were actually staying open. The small smile Zeb held was reassurance that somehow everything was going to be okay.

"There you are," Zeb said a little quietly. "I was hoping you would wake-up while I was here."

Kallus groaned slightly as he shuffled a little to try and get into a better position.

"To be honest, I'm surprised that you are here," Kallus admitted, squinting slightly from the bright light and moving his head so that Zeb's head would block out most of it. Maybe the problem wasn't just the brightness, but Kallus still felt exhausted.

Still smiling down a little, Zeb lowered his other hand and told him, "All the Generals got a notice about you, that Fulcrum was going to be out of commission for a while. She let me borrow the Phantom so that I could visit you."

Kallus smiled at the thought. Their relationship was only known to the people that they were very close to. He would have to thank Hera later for allowing Zeb to visit. It was a nice relief and comfort to have him here. He doubted that Zeb could stay for a while, but it was still nice to see him for a little bit.

Zeb, on the other hand remembered the hour of notice differently and could not smile. As grateful as he was that Hera allowed him to borrow the Phantom without even asking, he still remembered how scared he was.

Zeb knew that he should have known that something was wrong when _Hera's_ face was nervous as she knocked at the side of the open door. Hera was confident. The only time she looked nervous was when something was seriously wrong and the chance of failure and death was quite possible. When Hera looked nervous, that was the time to actually _be_ nervous.

So he should have already prepared himself for bad news, but he didn't think about what could be wrong. His crew were on the ship and last he saw them, they were all doing well despite running away from Bucketheads their last mission.

He wasn't expecting news about Kallus being in the med-bay in critical condition after an encounter with Thrawn and Pryce on a recent mission.

Zeb did his best to hide how worried that he was, but he was more than gracious when Hera's answer for "why are you telling me this" was:

"You can borrow the Phantom."

As worried as Zeb was on his way to the Home Base Med-Bay, seeing Kallus in the bed made him feel a bit better. Some time had passed from what Hera told him Kallus's injuries and he was doing better than Zeb expected him to be. He didn't know the full story, but Kallus had a one-on-one with Thrawn again and then later his fighter crashed on a planet. He had a deep gashed cut on his head, that was now bandaged over, as well as a broken wrist and two cracked ribs. There was a fear that Kallus would have to go into surgery for a collapsed lung, but it seemed that the med-droid was able to control that and it was luckily avoided, though Kallus was still going to be monitored for it for a while. There was a bandage over his forehead and a cast on his wrist and bandages around his chest, but for what it was worth, besides a couple of scrapes and a split lip, Kallus was looking pretty good for what he went through.

Kallus sighed and leaned back into his bed as he tried to relax and feel comfortable in the bed.

"You're lucky you didn't get hit too bad," Zeb told him.

Kallus chuckled lightly and shrugged, "I'm fine. Lost the second hand-to-hand combat with Thrawn though. Hopefully three is the charm."

"Hopefully you won't need a round three," Zeb countered.

"But I would miss the satisfactory that at least once I could beat him," Kallus joked.

"Don't push it," Zeb told him.

Kallus grinned and nodded, "yes, Sir."

Zeb rolled his eyes. The eyeball gained another grin from Kallus, however he noticed something else in the nod. Looking down on his body, he noticed a thick blanket, one that was from his bunk. His brows furrowed slightly.

"Where did this come from?" Kallus asked, his fingers from the cast feeling over the soft, brown blanket.

Looking up at Zeb, the Lasat was smirking.

"I had to wait a bit before I could see you," Zeb answered, "and I knew that the med-droids didn't know that you would be cold because you like to sleep with three blankets so I thought I would grab one for you."

Kallus couldn't help but smirk and let out a small laugh. Looking from the blanket and back up at Zeb, the man told him, "thank you." And he was. It was something else that Zeb thought about, something else that Zeb did to make him feel as comfortable as he could.

Yawning slightly, Kallus relaxed into the pillows looking up at the Lasat.

"Yeah, well," Zeb looked down at him and shrugged, though a small frown was on his face. "I think Hera's hoping that I would be back before the morning on Lothal. I wanted to make sure you were well taken care of."

Kallus nodded slightly. He understood the reading that was between the lines. Zeb wasn't able to stay too long. That was understandable, however. Zeb was needed elsewhere and the Battle for Lothal was coming soon. They would need Zeb there.

"It's alright," Kallus told him, "and I'd say that the droids here are taking good care of me."

"I can probably stay for another couple of hours," Zeb told him.

Kallus nodded and relaxed more in the bed. Closing his eyes, Kallus told him, "it's alright if you leave. I'm not going to be much of a person to talk to."

Even though Kallus said it was okay, he still never took his hand out of Zeb's. The Lasat didn't pull away either.

"I ain't leaving yet," Zeb told him, squeezing his hands. "I'll stay with ya' for a bit. Get some more rest. We need you back in shape as soon as you can."

Even though he was already starting to fall asleep, and even with the deep ache in his side still going, Kallus smiled a little and fell asleep to the feeling of Zeb's hand holding his tightly, like an anchor.

Kallus only woke up very briefly in the night when he felt some shifting near him. Calls felt Zeb's one hand move to cup the other side of his head while the other stayed securely in his hand. Kallus felt the feeling of Zeb's lips against the top of his head in the small spot where there were not any bandages while feeling Zeb squeeze his hand. After a couple of seconds, the kiss ended and Kallus felt Zeb's forehead against his now and a quiet whisper followed, "I'll be back soon. Stay safe."

A couple of seconds and one last hand squeeze later, Zeb let go of Kallus's hand and moved away.

Kallus could barely hear footsteps leaving the room and there was a quick thought before he fell back into his deep sleep.

 _I love you too._


	4. Right to Bed

_**Chapter Summary: A very short fluff fic of Zeb coming back after a mission in the middle of the night and Kallus is already in bed.**_

Kallus didn't know what time it was when he heard the door to his quarters open. All he knew was that it was late enough that in no way could (or would) he open his eyes to check. He was still exhausted after the information mission (that quickly escalated) he had come back from only hours before. He only had a quick shower before going into bed, not even bothering to eat. He was out in minutes and was not going to force himself into an awake time.

If it was this late and Zeb was coming in, he was sure the Ghost just came back to the base and Zeb was probably just as tired or aching for just laying down in the bed. Zeb would barely acknowledge a greeting anyway. It had only been a couple of days since he left.

So, Kallus waited and moved slightly in the bed, going from a side position, to one on his back, setting just when Zeb opened the door. In the silence of his dorm, Kallus heard the shuffle of Zeb in his room. He heard the quiet noise of some clothes hitting the floor before a small sigh from the other man. Hearing the slight creek on the bed as Zeb started to move onto it, Kallus opened his arms to allow the other man to sleepily drop into them.

Zeb curled into Kallus as best he could, not bothering to move under the covers. Zeb never particularly liked them anyway and would sometimes lay on top of the blankets. This was nothing new. No matter how many blankets were between them, Kallus still felt the Lasat curl into him and rest peacefully in his arms. Zeb's head moved to lay on Kallus's shoulder. As Kallus moved his arms to rest against the Lasat's body, one arm around his lower back and the other loosely over his shoulders, one of Zeb's arms moved along the human as well. Zeb slowly stretched his left arm out slightly before moving it so that it rested up along Kallus's chest and going up and over his shoulder until the hand was rested by the man's neck and ears.

Kallus hummed slightly to comfort Zeb as the Lasat let out a sigh. The human began to gently trace patterns along Zeb's shoulders and upper back to help relax him into sleep.

"Touch mission?" Kallus whispered, feeling the tension in Zeb's shoulders.

"Kind of," Zeb admitted.

At the start of the relationship, Zeb would sometimes downplay the severity of the mission and just how tired he was or how hard it was. However, he learned to just let those doors down and be open to Kal. Holding it in would only make him feel stressed and at least admitting it seemed to feel like it would put a heavy burden off of his shoulders. Kallus always listened and tried to help him as best as he could.

Kallus nodded, still moving his fingers around Zeb's shoulders to keep soothing him. He wasn't sure if Zeb was just so tired or if the trailings were working, but either way he was slowly starting to feel Zeb shut down any walls he had, almost starting to melt into him as he was falling asleep.

Trailing a finger up Zeb's other shoulder, he stopped suddenly when he felt the very thin, matted down line of hair.

"You have another bad scar," Kallus whispered. Zeb had scars, that was nothing new, however he could tell by touch that this one was deep and long. It probably would have hurt and most likely bled quite a bit. Whatever happened, it was a hard mission. Zeb didn't often get too banged up.

"It's fine," Zeb promised him. "I'll tell you about it in the morning."

Kallus nodded slightly, relaxing in the pillows as he kept trailing a finger along Zeb's back. He forced himself not to yawn.

"You're okay?" Kallus asked.

"I'm fine," Zeb promised.

Leaving it at that, Kallus decided to descend into silence. He could feel Zeb starting to move into a regular, soft breathing as he made his way to his dreams. Kallus brought a hand up to the back of Zeb's head, gently stroking his hair before letting it rest there. The two seemed to fall asleep together at the same time.


	5. First Name

_**A.N: So, in light of Dave telling us Kallus's first name (and the fandom not being too fond of it - including me), I thought that I might make this fic to fix it! Enjoy!**_

"Why don't you just tell me?!"

Kallus stared at him incredulously and shook his head, rolling his eyes at the same time.

"Because I don't like it!" Kallus admitted, walking across the room to throw out the last of the plate of food he got from the Mess Hall. "Why is it so important to you anyway?"

Zeb walked after him, setting his own plastic plate in the garbage as he answered him, "I just think that as your boyfriend I should know your name! You know my full name!"

Kallus rolled his eyes as he turned to look at the Lasat, going to now lean against the ledge of the short counter.

"That's different," Kallus told him. "Everyone knows your first name because you go by it. You want people to know because that's who you identify as. I don't like my first name, therefore I don't go by it!"

Zeb turned to look back at him, standing and crossing his arms, a joking scoff on his face.

"I highly doubt that your first name really is that terrible," Zeb told him.

"It's…" Kallus sighed, trying to find a way to explain. He looked up at the ceiling, as though that it would give him an answer. He brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and think before he looked at Kallus again, gesturing slightly with the hand as he let go of his nose. "I don't think it's important. I don't go by it, I don't like it, and I don't like people referring me as it."

"You can't ignore a whole part of your name," Zeb grinned.

Kallus shrugged, crossing his own arms. "I can try."

The Lasat rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, "It can't be that bad."

Kallus shrugged, starting to tighten the cross in his arms.

"It is to me," Kallus told him passively. "Besides, what does it matter if I don't go by it?"

"Well, we've been dating for a while now and I think knowing what your boyfriend's actual name is is something of importance in a relationship."

"Why can't we just not worry about that?" Kallus asked.

"Well, it's not very fair to me."

"So?"

It was a small jab and the Lasat could see that Kallus felt bad for saying it. Zeb stared at Kallus, not suspiciously, but as though he was adding up the pros and cons of the whole situation. Kallus stared back at him and then sighed.

"It's Alexsandr," Kallus answered tiredly, his voice lower. "Well, technically Alexsandr Jr."

Zeb was silent after, thinking about the name. He knew that many human cultures had the tradition of naming their children after their fathers. Sometimes young ones were called Junior. It seemed weird to him. He never had that in his culture, however he could understand the appeal for some. On Lasan, the only time you would name a kit after someone was if it was to honour a passed family member. There was never any of that 'Junior' stuff. The Lasat believed that you would name someone their own name so that they could be their own self, not a passed down version of someone.

Zeb could easily see that Kallus was starting to get slightly uncomfortable.

"Why don't you go by Alexsandr then?" Zeb asked, skeptically.

"Please don't call me that," Kallus repeated, staring at Zeb dead in the eyes.

Zeb stared back for a couple of seconds before nodding.

"Alright," Zeb promised. "But why don't you like it?"

Kallus gulped before he then forced a shrug as though he was trying to make it seem more light hearted.

"It's my father's name. I never particularly liked it. Even as a kid I would sometimes ask kids to call me Kallus instead," Kallus admitted, his voice a little quieter. "Growing up I had a lot of expectations set on me because I was the eldest. And the name just made it worse. I couldn't escape from everything my father wanted and what people were expecting of me because I was named after him."

Zeb stared at Kallus, silent and listening. He felt his ears start to lower at the image of young Kallus being unhappy and placed on a pedestal for expectations. He knew what that was like, somewhat. Sometimes Zeb could forget that even people working for the Empire did not have great familial lives growing up. He was on the Honour Guard, but it was because he wanted to. It was an honour to him. His parents never forced him to do anything. The only expectation they had for him growing up was that he would always be a good person.

He forgot that sometimes, not everyone had parents and family like he did.

"When I look back on it, I realize that having his name on me just made me miserable and only want to please him. And looking back…I can see points in my life when he would tell me things that I just don't agree with now, things that turned me into… _that_ Kallus. He approved and was proud of _everything_ I did when I worked for the Empire, Zeb. And I don't want to be associated with that or him," Kallus explained, his arms tightening around him. He chuckled and then sighed, "besides, it's not like he would want that either, not after my deflection."

Zeb could feel his ears slowly dropping. Kallus didn't talk about his family often beyond small doses. From what Zeb knew, they were not the greatest, yet Kallus still missed them. Even after everything they put him through or made him into, Zeb understood how Kallus could still wish for the family he wished that they were.

Zeb didn't realize how much of a secret it was. The Lasat sighed and gently clamped a hand on Kallus's shoulder. The human looked so closed off. It wasn't like him. It made him look more defensive, as though trying to protect himself by making himself smaller.

When Kallus looked up at him, Zeb told him in a gentle voice, "Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry I pressured you." With his own locked secrets, Zeb should have known when to not push someone on their own.

Kallus shrugged, his shoulders already starting to lose some tension.

"I just don't like people calling me that. I'm now used to people calling me Kallus," the human male answered.

Zeb nodded, understanding what he meant.

"Well, then I won't call you it," Zeb answered him. "And your secret is safe with me."

Kallus nodded and then a smirk came to his lips. Zeb could see that Kallus was now making an effort to let out some of his own tension with a joke.

"Thank goodness. I'd never hear the end of it from Ezra and Sabine," Kallus joked, laughing lightly at the end.

Zeb couldn't help but sputter out a booming laugh himself. The sound made Kallus's smile grow, all tension and defence leaving him. Zeb's laughter almost always seemed to have that effect on him.

"You're secret's safe with me," Zeb promised, his body still shaking from the after laughter affects. Now leaning in closer, Zeb pressed his lips to Kallus's, "I'll just keep calling you Kal."


	6. Babysitting

**Chapter Summary: so I've been playing around the idea of how Zeb starts to think about family and having one with Kallus. So: when Zeb goes to Kallus's room, he is not expecting to see Kallus with a baby in his arms, but it does raise some thoughts in Zeb's mind.**

Zeb silently and tiredly walked through the halls of the base. His bones ached and he was ready for the soft comfort of Kallus's bed. The mission was long and tiring, both because of the amount of heavy loading material onto the Ghost he had to move and because of the hard run they had to do after to escape. Sure the others tried to help with the loading up, but with Zeb having the most strength on the group, the majority of the moving fell to him and Zeb was ready for a rest. Even Sabine and Ezra were sleeping before the ship docked on the base and Kanan was almost falling asleep in the co-pilot's seat.

The Lasat was going on routine as he absentmindedly moved through the halls towards the living quarters. He'd been there so many times before that by now that he was sure that he could make the trip blindfolded. Zeb didn't know for sure if Kallus would be there or not. He had heard that Fulcrum had been carried off on his own mission very early this morning and Zeb hadn't heard if he came back yet. However, it would be nice if he _was_ there. Zeb smiled at the thought. It had been a couple of weeks since he had been able to spend time with Kal.

Yawning slightly, Zeb finally made it to the doorway and he quickly put the passcode into the lock-unit. Perhaps he could get a quick shower in before going to bed. He wondered if Kal was in bed himself. He couldn't hear the holo from the other side of the door.

No matter what Zeb was thinking about and what he was wondering what was on the other side of that door, he was definitely not expecting what the first sight was.

No. He definitely was not expecting to see Kal standing while holding a tiny baby in his arms, her body wrapped in warm pink blankets, as he fed her a bottle. The man was smiling down at her and the baby's eyes were tiredly looking back up at him. Her dark skin glowed beautifully against the paler pink blankets. Kallus himself was smiling down happily at the baby, his arms securing her in a comfortable and safe hold. The blond barely seemed to notice that the door opened.

"Kal…." Zeb asked slowly, his eyebrows raising as he stared at his boyfriend with the tiny baby in his arms, wide awake now.

The blonde turned to him, the smile that he had for the baby widening as he stared back at the Lasat.

"Zeb! I didn't know you were coming in tonight!" Kallus told him, clearly glad for the surprise.

"Uh, yeah, well…" Zeb tried to keep looking at the blond's face but his eyes kept wandering off to the baby still eating in Kallus's arms, "I guess I could say the same about you. I heard that you got called out early this morning."

Kallus was nodding, swaying his arms slightly for the child, "yeah, but thankfully I got back in time to see you. I'm leaving again tomorrow to meet with Senator Organa."

Zeb nodded, his eyes still watching the little baby, noticing that the bottle was now almost finished.

Kallus finally seemed to see where Zeb's gaze was falling and he looked down as well. He chuckled and then looked back up at the Lasat, a grin on his face.

"I guess you are wondering why she is here," Kallus commented.

Zeb shrugged, moving a couple of steps closer to get a good look at the baby, "it's one of the questions on my mind."

Zeb peered down at the baby in Kallus's arms. Her arms were down and close to her body, her eyes closed peacefully as she slowly began to finish the contents of the bottle. It was easy to notice how Kallus's arms held the child protectively and locked it to him.

"On our mission we ended up going through a warzone. We were meeting a mayor at this village, but by the time we got there, the Empire wiped everything out," Kallus explained gently, looking down at the baby as well. "Going through the rubble, I heard her crying. It doesn't seem like she is too hurt, thankfully. I decided to take her in to get examined though, the doctor on the base thinks that she is around four months old."

Zeb felt his own stomach twist. He could relate to this child for a lot of reasons already without even knowing her name.

Finally, Zeb sighed, noticing the baby finish her bottle. Kallus gently took the empty bottle from the baby's lips, though the child offered no resistance. Kallus moved back a little to place the empty bottle on his desk, not even looking where he was placing it, but he seemed to already know. It was almost like Kallus had a natural, second sense.

Once the bottle was set down, Kallus began to gently sway and bounce the baby in his arms, as though helping her to go to sleep for good measure as he commented offhandedly, staring fondly at the baby, "I think she must have been breast fed because she doesn't take to the formula well. She got to hungry to care I guess."

It was weird how natural it all looked to Zeb, how natural Kallus's movements and care were towards her. Zeb himself had babysat little kits on Lasan, but he doubted he was or even looked as natural and caring as Kal was now.

"I guess she took a shining to me," Kallus explained gently, staring down at the sleeping baby still. "Senator Organa is coming over and when we sent him a message, he said that he could take her. There are good orphanages on Alderaan that he said would be happy to take her. It's all for the best, but I guess she couldn't get comfortable in the med-bay so I took Rani here. Already she seems to be doing better."

Zeb's ears and eyes suddenly perked up.

 _Rani_?

"Kal…you didn't name her did you?" Zeb groaned, but also had a nervous tone in his voice.

The blond looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

"I guess I did in the end. I don't know, I got tired of calling her 'you' or 'it' or 'her', so I guess I just called a name that came into my head whenever I see her," Kallus answered him, arms still swaying lightly to help comfort the baby into sleep. He noticed Zeb's concerned expression and he chuckled, "I know what you're thinking, Zeb. Don't worry. She's still going to Alderaan with Senator Organa tomorrow. It wouldn't be a good life for her in the Rebellion, especially with me constantly going. I'm just going to take care of her for the night so that someone is taking care of her. She's terrified of the droids."

Zeb stared down at the sleeping baby. She looked comfortable in Kal's arms. With everything she went through, even if for a baby, she seemed to trust Kal a lot. For all the time that Zeb knew him, he never really thought about Kal interacting with kids. He never really thought of Kal taking care of kids, or being…fatherly. But it all seemed to come naturally to Kal.

"Where will she sleep?" Zeb asked.

Kallus gestured towards a large office box on the couch.

"It's the best that I could do under short notice, but it'll keep her comfortable and it will stop her from rolling out," Kallus answered.

Zeb stared at the box. Yes, it was a box, but Kallus seemed to make that box as comfortable as it could be with all the pillows and blankets that he placed in it. It was probably warmer and more comfortable than some of the bedrolls that the pilots used.

Nodding, Zeb sighed and looked at the clock once more before he turned back to his boyfriend, who was already looking down at the baby.

"I'll take a quick shower before heading to bed, if that's okay," Zeb told him.

Kallus nodded, looking up at him and telling him, "yeah, go ahead. I'm just going to put her to bed before I go myself. Do you mind if she sleeps in our room?"

Zeb shook his head.

"Not at all," he told him, though he forced himself not to grit his teeth at the thought of the baby crying in the middle of the night. But, it would be for one night, and it's not like the child could help it. Kallus seemed to be doing a good job though, too.

Kallus nodded before looking down at the baby as she grabbed his attention again.

Moving towards the refresher, Zeb took one last look at Kallus over his shoulder. The man's strong arms were still holding the baby securely. Even from this far away, it all looked so natural. Despite the visual indication that Kallus was definitely not biologically related to the child, it all still looked natural.

It made the Lasat feel…good though. He never really asked Kal about kids and if he wanted any. The question never came up and it was implied that they couldn't take care of kids during a rebellion, especially as they were now. Zeb was away from Kallus a lot and Kallus was away from the base regularly. The whole idea of them taking on a kid was nothing but a bad idea if they tried to implement it. Truthfully, Zeb always thought it would be nice to have kits of his own, someone to care for and to pass down stories and training, but not if it mean that he couldn't truly take care of them.

But looking at Kallus and how he smiled down at the baby, Zeb shut the door, thinking that the idea of him and Kal, perhaps…one day, raising a family was a nice thought.


	7. Babysitting Part 2

_Chapter Summary: A continuation of Part 1. After Senator Organa is unable to pick up baby Rani, Zeb spends the day with her._

 _A/N: A few small moments that I have been thinking of writing about with them, especially after all the positive feedback! I hope that all of you like this chapter as well! Enjoy!_

Zeb puffed out air in slight annoyance as the baby tried to slip from his arms again while they walked. She was looking everywhere she could, holding tightly to his shirt and fur to keep herself steady and balanced while she let her curiosities fly. Looking forward, he could see the others by the Ghost, the hatch open with a couple of medium sized and small crates near the ramp.

Moving closer, the rest of the crew began to notice him as well. Their confused looks only deepened as he got closer, their eyes all focusing on the small being in his arms.

"And who's this?" Hera asked, raising an eyebrow herself as Zeb stopped in front of them.

Zeb looked down at the baby that was desperately trying to look over her shoulder at the new voices to put faces to them, though still gripping and pulling at his fur to keep her balance. Her large brown eyes turned to him for a brief moment before she went to look over the other shoulder to try and get a better view.

"Kal calls her Rani," Zeb answered, suddenly jolting slightly to bring his other hand up to her back when she tried to lean over to far, exerting a small huff of annoyance as he kept walking towards them. One thing he had learned quickly looking after Rani was that she needed to be watched every second.

Picking up from where Hera left off, Sabine explained with a small smirk, "I'm pretty sure that there was an implied second part to that question."

Zeb looked up at her and narrowed his eyes in a glare, making Sabine's smirk crack a bit more into a smile along with Ezra.

"Kal found her on his last mission," Zeb explained.

As though the idea suddenly came back to her, Hera's eyes widened slightly with realization.

"Yes, I did hear about that from the other pilots and generals," Hera commented, "the entire city was destroyed when they arrived."

"Yeah," Zeb confirmed. "Kallus found her in some ruble and brought her back to base. He got in contact with Senator Organa and he said he could take her. She stayed with us last night because apparently she hates the droids and was screaming louder than the emergency alarms."

Of which, he could testify to when she woke up in the bedroom that morning and didn't see either of them in the room. Kallus had quickly been able to calm her back down just by holding her. Clearly she attached herself to him, but he knew that was inevitable. Kallus was the one to find her; she automatically associated him with safety.

Still staring at the baby, Hera pause for a moment before saying, her hand coming out and moving her one finger in a circular motion as a gesture, "there was also an implied third question."

Zeb looked back at her and sighed before answering, "you needed me to help you with the unloading, and Kallus is in a meeting right now. Senator Organa was supposed be in today, however he sent a message this morning. The pass along will have to be postponed until tomorrow."

"Ah," Hera replied, nodding once before saying, "as long as she won't get in the way."

Zeb shook is head.

"No, she'll be fine," Zeb looked down at the baby before explaining, "she'll probably be out for a nap soon. And she likes to watch people, but she's pretty good at entertaining herself."

Kanan grinned and began to walk past him to head back into the Ghost. He stopped by Kallus's shoulder and his head moved down as though he was looking at the baby. The little one looked back up at him, staring at him for a moment as though undecided before letting out a large smile and a small coo. Kanan's grin became wider and he moved a hand up to move through her hair, making the baby coo again more happily. As the baby moved a bit from the action, her hands pulled at his fur again.

"Sounds like you're starting to get to know her," Kanan grinned.

Zeb groaned and rolled his eyes as the others cracked their own smiles, Sabine moving back towards the ship as well when Kanan started again.

"More like babysitting duty," Zeb gruffed out.

"Like that sounds too much better," Ezra joked, almost making Zeb growl in annoyance, but stopping himself before he could scare the kid.

Walking past them, Zeb watched Ezra stopped for a quick moment and smiled at the baby, gently pocking her cheek to make her giggle. Ezra's smile brightened as he regarded the baby a couple seconds longer before going on his way to help with the others. The baby was still looking over Zeb's shoulder, watching the three new people walking away with seemingly great interest. Zeb chuckled.

"Trust me kid, we're more annoying than you think we are," Zeb commented to her, however the baby was still looking over his shoulder.

Turning back to Hera, he suddenly got a new idea.

"Hey Hera, can I take one of the seats from the Phantom?" Zeb asked.

The Twi'lek thought for a moment before finally shaking her head, "just put it back after."

Zeb nodded and she was already moving to follow the others. Behind him he could hear the soft grunting of Ezra and Sabine, likely trying to pick up a box together. Moving onto the Ghost himself now, Zeb took a quick detour away to the Phantom. The baby kept turning her head rapidly to try and see her surroundings as much as she could, probably also looking for the others as he walked.

Moving onto the Phantom, he held the squirming baby with one hand as the other went to the seats at the back of the cockpit. He carefully unlinked one of the cushioned seats. Keeping hold of it, he felt the blanket on his shoulder starting to slip from her fidgeting, so he had to stop and try and fix it with his full hand from the seat, looking down to make sure he didn't hit her.

"You're a lot of work you know," Zeb grunted.

The baby only looked over at him, her eyes still wide. She smiled at hearing his voice before happily pulling at his fur as she moved. He winced slightly again at the force, not noticing the smile forming afterwards, before moving on again to leave and meet the others.

Moving back out of the Phantom and back outside, Zeb passed Kanan and Sabine, who were carrying one large box together, both with struggling faces from the weight as Ezra moved on one of the sides to try and make extra strength.

"Hurry up, Zeb," Sabine grunted.

"I'm getting there," he answered.

His voice was cut off by the baby's sudden loud whine. Zeb felt the extra pull on his fur.

The Last rapidly looked over his shoulder to find out what she noticed that scared her before he heard the culprit's loud beeping before noticing the orange cap with his grippers flailing around in confusion as some harsh beeps of confusion followed.

"Chopper!" Zeb growled at him after hearing the insult, almost dropping the seat in his hand to hold Rani tighter before remembering that it was there in the first place.

"Chopper, leave her alone," Kanan grunted.

Seeing the baby start to cower into Zeb's shoulder, Chopper could see the mistake he made. Feeling her start to shrink against him, Zeb carefully moved his other hand up, the extra arm helping to wrap around her to comfort her almost unconsciously. She had been through enough in the past couple of days.

Turning back to the droid, he growled, "keep your distance unless you really want to hear a siren go off."

The droid seemed to almost pause in confusion for a moment before seemingly deciding to just let it go. Turning, the droid beeped out one last insult as though getting the last word. Holding in a growl, he muttered, "damn Rust Bucket" before moving beside the others and taking her to where the other boxes were being placed.

Ezra grinned, helping the others lower the box in the pile with the others.

"Don't worry, Rani, he just likes to bother Zeb," Ezra commented.

Zeb rolled his eyes, for a moment debating about where to put the seat; on the ground so if she somehow wiggled her way out she wouldn't fall down, or on the boxes where she could easily see everything, and likely wouldn't be as afraid as Chopper. In the end, he placed the seat on top of one of the boxes. She would be buckled in and they would take turns before going in and out of them, so someone would always be watching her.

After setting the seat down and making sure it was stable, Zeb carefully used both hands to move the baby from his shoulder. He grunted lowly when she tried to keep holding him, her small hands still gripping his fur — _how could something so small have such a grip,_ he thought—before he was able to gently pry her off of him. Making sure the blanket was still wrapped around her, he carefully transferred her into the seat. He always forgot how small she was when he literally held her in his hands. He was always worried about accidentally hurting her from his strength and large hands that were practically the size of half of her body.

However, holding her as gently as he could, he managed to place her in the seat. She stared up at him, slightly confused before wiggling in the seat to find a comfortable spot. The seat was obviously too big to fit her right, but he felt better about it when he strapped her into it, making sure the belt was snuggly around her without actually hurting her.

Taking a step back, she immediately made a whimper. Zeb gulped, feeling his chest start to get heavy and full before he saw her attention move to another. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Hera coming back with a medium sized box of her own. The baby made a cooing sound, interested in the new face. After setting the box down, Hera looked towards the sound and smiled at the baby beaming widely at her. Deciding to take his chance, he quickly moved to go back into the Ghost to help the others. She'd be fine with the constant moving in and out and seeing new faces. Didn't babies have that thing where if it wasn't in front of them, they don't think it exists? She'd just be constantly rehappy to see the new face again as though they just came out of oblivion.

Still keeping an ear out for Rani in case she ended up crying again, Zeb found one of the larger boxes and easily picked it up. It was just general habit now to find the bigger boxes of inventory and take them. It was something he quickly picked up when on the Ghost after seeing the others having to struggle to try and move a box that he could easily pick up himself. Lifting the box, he took a quick look around. They didn't have too much more to do with all five of them at work.

Just as Kanan, Ezra, and Sabine were leaving, carrying their own boxes out into the yard and new pile, Hera was coming back inside. Barely looking at him as she picked up another case, she commented, "I heard the baby doesn't like Chopper."

Zeb barely looked over his shoulder at her before he looked back down at his box.

"Yeah. Like I said, she hates the droids in the med bay. It must be something about…what happened, that she associates them with danger," Zeb answered.

Hera shrugged, moving to follow him out of the room with her case.

"It's possible, though the Empire doesn't quite use droids anymore," Hera answered. "Apparently it's normal for a lot of infants to be weary or scared of droids. It's the facial thing, you know? Droids don't have faces that change, expressions to read, smiles, a lot of infants find that scary. Especially because a lot of them don't talk."

Zeb thought for a moment before he shrugged.

"I guess."

"It made an impression though."

Zeb stopped for a moment, staring at her. Hera looked over her shoulder briefly at him, though never stopped walking.

"Don't tell me the Rust Bucket's pride is wounded by a four month old fearing him," Zeb scoffed in disbelief, finding his steps again and moved forward.

"You know Chopper. He acts all tough and loves to annoy you, but you also know how protective and loyal he is," Hera answered.

"Droids don't have hearts," Zeb commented, rolling his eyes.

"I just don't think he likes scaring small babies," Hera answered, "despite hating them by how loud and annoying they can be. Well, that or he's scared he'll scare her too much that she'll start screaming."

Zeb chuckled again, the two of them almost outside at this point while the others were moving back in. Zeb's eyes immediately looked towards Rani, who was still sitting in the seat, wrapped up in her blanket. When she saw him, she instantly smiled and wiggled in the seat happily. Zeb grinned, looking at her so closely that he didn't notice Hera looking at him to notice his reaction. She smiled and commented, setting down her box, "she really seems to like you."

Zeb smiled and shrugged, "yeah, I guess."

~.~

Zeb had gotten used into the pace of moving in and out of the ship, grabbing a box and placing it with the others that it was almost mindless and out of habit now. Rani had been entertained enough of the others going in and out at different time so she never felt alone. And Zeb swore that she was starting to understand that he would keep coming back out whenever he disappeared. Whenever any of the crew came out again, it was like a constant, walking, back and forth Peek-A-Boo session where they would come out and she would suddenly smile at the sight of them again, especially when Zeb would come back. Unless her gaze was elsewhere, every time she would spot him, her eyes instantly shined and she let out a small and happy squeal. Zeb kept on his work even if he didn't realize the smile that came to his face every time it happened, her dark skin shining in the brief sunlight. If it weren't so cloudy Zeb would start to get concerned if she was in the sun too long, but it was cold enough, right?

Almost an hour in and at this point all the smaller boxes were carried out. He told the others he would take the rest considering even together they would have a hard time carrying the rest. As they had moved on to work on other things, Zeb kept at his. He was almost done anyway.

Moving to pick up another box, carefully lifting it and grunting slightly, he began to hear small whimpering and then whispering.

Pausing for a moment to try and hear better, he then moved with the box, lifting it while walking carefully. As he came out into the light of the sun, he immediately looked towards Rani to see a surprise. Rani wasn't even looking for him, and the seat he put her in earlier was empty. Instead, Ezra was holding her and crouching down towards Chopper. For a second he couldn't breathe before he saw where she was. Setting the box down, Zeb could only stare at the scene in front of him. Ezra had a careful, but good hold on her, holding her close to his shoulder and chest. Rani was holding tightly to Ezra's shirt with one hand while with the other she was looking towards Chopper with mixed feeling, one hand outstretched to it as well. The droid looked down at her, or at least was leaning down a bit towards her.

"Ezra!" Zeb called to him.

The younger boy immediately looked up, along with Rani who heard his voice. The instant she saw him, like the other times, she let out a happy squeal again, her face instantly shining with a smile.

"You better not make her scream or else you're going to be the one to stop it," Zeb warned him, almost shuddering at how she screamed a couple of times last night. "That goes for you too, Chop. If you scare her not even Hera will be able to protect you!"

The droid just warbled and shifted side to side a bit in fake offence before Zeb shook his head and already began to walk back onto the ship, his back to them. Walking up the ramp again, he heard Ezra call back, "she's fine! She's not even that scared anymore."

Some Force thing, probably, Zeb thought. But perhaps that wouldn't be so bad if Ezra was able to comfort her better with it. Zeb just shook his head and went back to his work moving his boxes. As long as the baby wasn't screaming then Zeb didn't mind that Ezra was going to keep her entertained.

The next time he came out with a heavy cart, he looked to see that Ezra was still talking with the baby, smiling down at her. He looked for Chopper but the droid was gone. After years of living with Chopper he knew to get suspicious, but Zeb decided to let it go. He was almost done.

It was a few more boxes before Zeb stepped out of the Ghost, growing even more suspicious. Giving a brief look to Rani, Zeb saw she was back in her seat, Ezra and Chopper standing beside her. He set the box down, relieving his arms and looking back to get a better look. He had barely registered the electronic in Ezra's hand before feeling cold water splash onto his head.

" _EZRA_!"

The boy's giggles immediately stopped and he backtracked, going to walk backwards before realizing he was up against the boxes, his hands on the control freezing. Chopper warped again, both in laughter and because he told Ezra he was on his own, going to scurry away before Zeb could yell at him. Rani's laughter, however, was still loud and musical in the air.

"Chopper that's not fair!" Ezra called after him but the droid only rolled faster away.

Looking towards Zeb, Ezra let out a nervous smile.

"Hey, at least I waited until you put the cart down!" Ezra tried to defend himself as Zeb started to stalk towards him. He then looked at Rani before pointing to the baby and saying, "and I made Rani laugh! And she's no longer afraid of Chopper!"

Zeb shook his body a bit as he walked over to him, trying to shake some of the water off of him. He growled a bit, moving closer before Ezra let the remote go and look towards Rani as she laid back in the seat, "see, look how happy she is!"

By the time Zeb was in front of Ezra, who was cowering, his one leg out ready to make a side sweep to escape, Zeb finally turned his eyes to really look at Rani. The baby was staring at him with tired yet wide eyes, her smile the biggest Zeb had seen, bigger than when she saw Kallus this morning when she woke up. Her giggles were high but musical, loud and almost infectious. The way she was smiling at him, despite how annoyed he looked, felt as though she was looking past something, or that she didn't care. She was just happy of his presence and somehow understood the joke that had been played. She was a smart girl who seemed to find this absolutely hilarious. He started to wonder if she actually did know what had all happened, the maniacal little baby. But this was the happiest Zeb had seen her yet, and he had never heard her laugh like this before. All problems away.

Zeb let in a deep breath, swallowing a growl of frustration in his throat. He looked at Ezra and grumbled, "you're lucky you're in front of baby."

Ezra let out a nervous laugh and smile, though he knew he got away with it, at least for now.

"Even you have to admit it was good," Ezra grinned.

Zeb pointed his finger into Ezra's chest and moved his head closer, his brows furrowing more, "Don't push—"

"Zeb, Ezra!"

Both immediately turned to look sideways and towards Hera as she was walking closer to them. They immediately straightened up and as she got closer, she her face paused a bit to look between the two curiously.

"Should I ask?"

"He started it!" Zeb growled.

"You can get back at him for it later," Hera told them, stopping in front of them, overlooking that Zeb was soaked. "We got called to a meeting."

Zeb sighed before he asked, "do I have time to change?"

Hera looked him over once before shaking her head and answering him, "I don't think so."

Zeb grumbled again before his head whipped back towards the younger boy. Ezra's nervous grin shrunk a bit before he mumbled, "you know what, I think that's my que to leave…"

Before Zeb could grab him, Ezra had already shrunk past him and was moving after Hera as she began to walk away. Zeb always forgot how fast the kid could be until Ezra ran from him when he knew Zeb was ready to pay him back.

Shaking his head, the Last looked back towards Rani. The small eyes looked back up at him, her laughter now faded out by now. But that last burst seemed to be the last effort of energy she had. Honestly, he was surprised that she was even still awake. Looking up at him, the baby held her arms out and let out small whines. Ezra had tied her back in her seat so she wouldn't get out, but she pulled at it all the same. Zeb's shoulders slumped a little.

"Hera?" he called, turning his head towards them again. The Twi'lek turned her head back to look at him while Ezra turned fully. "What about her."

Hera seemed to think for a moment before she shrugged, "Kallus is going to be there too. As long as she's quiet I guess you'll need to bring her."

As they turned back to keep going, Zeb let out a long sigh before turning back to the baby, who was still holding her hands to him, whining louder now. He groaned before moving to untie her, keeping the blanket wrapped around her, "you're a lot of work, you know."

The baby could only smile as he picked her up, her feet dangling a little before he moved to bring her closer to him again. Almost instantly, she quieted.

"I'm wet, you know," he grumbled as he moved her closer to his shoulder, making sure that the blanket offered a bit of a buffer from her to his still wet vest. Despite the slight wetness, however, Rani was already curling against him as best she could, moving her head from the outside to looking towards his chest, getting comfortable as she murmured baby rambles. Not realizing his smile, Zeb grinned down at her and began walking after Hera. "I was wondering when you would start to get tired."

~.~

By the time they were seated and talking in the conference room, Rani was sound asleep, still curled against his chest. He was given some weird looks by a couple of the pilots when they saw the large Lasat walk into the room, or just stand near the outside with a baby against his chest, a pink blanket wrapped around her and along his chest, but Kallus found Zeb's eyes when he walked in and saw Rani before a wide smile came to his face.

A couple of minutes in, Zeb had found a seat along with a couple of the pilots as Hera and a couple of other Generals and Kallus were working out a plan. Feeling her soft heartbeat and breathing against him, Zeb never felt so warm. It was as though he was chosen, that she felt comfortable enough to sleep against him. He felt honoured. Kallus had to keep his grin from growing too big.

Despite how weird it looked, he sat there, making his own comments and verbalizing his thoughts to help in the strategizing, and it seemed that everyone else got used to seeing the big, burly Lasat holding the baby as she slept soundly against him, as though it was normal. And after a while, Zeb felt it was normal too.

~.~

Most of the base was quiet by now. With each hour that came into the night, there was the familiar way that it grew quiet, slowly, hour by hour. Rani had went to bed early as well. She woke up after the meeting, now ready to play with Kallus when she saw him again. Zeb watched the two play with some small containers that Kallus had managed to steal from the mess hall for her to play around with. They were pretty big for her tiny hands, but she was still entertained enough to move them around, slam containers against the ground, and to suck on the lids as she moved others. Kallus laid on the ground, moving them along as well, grinning as she let out slight squeals of excitement before moving them, one hand still holding the lid so she could suck on it.

Zeb had tried not to make it look obvious that he was watching them. Kallus had been smiling the entire afternoon, and he didn't realize that he was too. The baby had been happy just to move them around with Kallus.

But after a couple of hours Kallus noticed her starting to fall asleep against the floor, so he laid her in her box. After that, it had been pretty quiet. Kallus and Zeb had enough time to eat on their own and watch a small holovid before going into a night time routine. Kallus was almost surprised. This was the longest that she had ever slept while in their care. In a weird way, Zeb both liked the quiet, but it was also starting to feel foreign.

They had only slept a couple of hours before Zeb heard the small whimpers and whines coming from the box. Both of them almost instantly awoke the at the first sound she made. While Zeb picked up Rani and held her to comfort her, Kallus had gone to the kitchenette area to warm a bottle of milk for her. She had been so tired from her day that she almost didn't have it in her to cry. Zeb tried his best to hold her as she squirmed with discomfort, wanting to be fed, but luckily Kallus had been quick.

Even eating she was slowly starting to fall back to sleep. Zeb knew that it would only be one of the first of many wake-ups in the night, but at least this one seemed short.

Holding her against his chest and on his lap, Zeb gently pulled the bottle back when it emptied. Although she was almost asleep again, Rani carefully held the baby against his shoulder before gently patting her back to burp her. Kallus was starting to get comfortable laying down in the bed again.

Hearing her burp, Zeb tried to pull the baby away from him before he felt her grip his fur again, whining in disapproval. The Last rolled his eyes and groaned, but leaned back against the pillows, pulling Rani with him and moving to gently rest a hand on her back. If this kept the kid from whining, Zeb could hold out. From what Zeb remembered of this afternoon and what Kallus remembered from last night, she got very cuddly when she was sleepy. And if felt kind of nice to hold her again.

"It's a nice thought, isn't it?" Zeb heard Kallus say. The Last turned his head to look at the blonde. Kallus was staring at him, still propped up against the pillows and holding a soft smile on his face. "You know, I mean, I know that we can't but, just to think…us…and…well, and her."

Looking at the blonde, he remembered thinking the exact same thing the night before and seeing Kallus with her. He remembered how natural Kallus looked holding and taking care of her. Is that how Kallus saw him now? Is this how Kallus felt last night holding Rani? Did he feel the sense of peace when he was holding her? Or how…warm of a feeling it was to have her trust you so much that she falls asleep against you? How despite everything she has gone through she seems happy and comfortable with you because of how much she trusts you. How there was a sense of joy in holding her, seeing her smile up at you and how that smile can outshine the brightest stars.

He knew that they couldn't, but what if they did? What if they made it work? What if he stayed with Kal on the bases? What if he and Kal were their own group on separate missions? What if they brought her along? What if she grew up with them? What if they tucked her in, cared for her, and loved her as they already did every day like parents are supposed to?

What if they became that family?

Staring down at Rani, at how she was still peacefully sleeping against him, he began to smile.

"Yeah," he agreed, "it's a nice thought."


	8. Golden Mornings on Lira San

**Summary:** **{Set after the series finale, derived from Babysitting fics} Not too long after the fall of the Empire, Zeb wakes up to a beautiful morning with his family on Lira San.**

 **A/N:** **I know the finale aired forever ago, but I finally got to writing some ideas I had in mind! Between final assignments, exams, placement, and moving these past months have been packed but I finally made time for an edition! Not too sure if I'll continue in this thread (let me know if you are tired of it). I have different ideas for it...**

 **Enjoy! Please let me know what you think!**

Zeb rolled over in the bed, his senses slowly coming to him in the darkness. The feelings of the sheets against his fur was the first thing that he felt, a second later it was the pillow he was resting against.

Moving again, trying to stretch out his legs, the next sense that came was the light orange light behind his eyelids. Stretching out his legs a bit more, Zeb groaned ever so slightly as he opened his eyes, the blurry images around him slowly sharpening into clarity as he looked around his room. The light from the window created a gentle glow in the room as the sun began to move higher into the sky. Groaning again and rubbing his eyes slightly, Zeb twisted to look at the other side of the bed, surprised to see it empty. Twisting back, he looked at the clock and realized why. He had over slept by almost an hour.

Sitting up fully, he let out a small yawn, forcing himself to his feet as he moved ungracefully and with fatigue out of the room.

What confused him even more was the quietness of their country home. Normally there were noises coming from every room the instant Zeb stepped out of his bedroom.

Curious, the Lasat moved into the kitchen, wondering if his family was there, but he could only smell the caf that Kallus must have left for him. He was again met with an empty room.

Of bodies at least.

Laughter hung in the air like bells.

Turning, he saw the front door open.

Laughter echoed along the air, the walls of the house, and in his own ears as he slowly made his way towards the open front door. The light was almost blinding as it shown through, making everything a golden glow. Stepping closer, Zeb narrowed his eyes a little bit to get used to the light before he stepped through the doorway.

Blinking a bit more, his eyes slowly adjusted, the white light slowly forming into images and outlines, outlines that moved with both gentle and calm grace while some with play. Focusing on where the laughter was coming from, he gazed out at the meadow as his sight gained more clarity. The long, thin grass flowed in the gentle wind back and forth, giving it a white, almost golden look as it flowed like water.

Amongst the calm grass flowing, he watched the gentle chaos of his kids playing in the meadow. His eyes caught Rani running through the field, her night dress still apparently on. Kallus had managed to put her hair into an elastic before she had probably ran outside to play at least. He watched as the child ran through the long grass, giggling and squealing as she looked back a few times to check if her stalkers were a gaining speed or not.

After her, he saw the newest edition to their family, Zephyr, with three-year-old Gabrielle on his shoulders as he playfully ran after Rani, holding on to her legs as he ran to make sure she kept her balance against his lekku. The toddler was screaming with laughter from her entertainment of 'chasing' after Rani with Zephyr. Although the boy wasn't loud, Zeb could see the laughter from the Togrutan's facial features as he played.

After they adopted the twins, Zeb and Kallus didn't think that they would adopt more kids. Even after Rani they didn't think they would adopt again. Zeb had been happy raising her for the past five years with Kal. However, when some friends had died in a ship crash, Zeb and Kallus immediately took in their twins so they had a place to stay until other arrangements could be made. After that, they never left. Two year old twins with a four year old had been enough for them. There were never enough hands and never enough eyes to completely watch them.

Yet when the family was out to get some supplies for the house, five-year-old Rani went outside to look at some of the fruit before she came back in to find them with a scared Togrutan boy in tow with ripped clothes that wouldn't meet their eyes, saying that they would buy him some food. She had said it like a statement of reassurance, not as a question. Zeb and Kallus were immediately on alert, trying to get some answers out of the apparent six-year-old as he ate the sandwich they had bought him. All they could get out at the time was that his parents were gone, or left him, and he was hungry. Somehow, that led to taking the quiet and shy Zephyr back to Lira San with them.

'You'd think we'd be used to becoming parents to a new kid overnight by our third try', Zeb remembered telling Kallus a couple of days after they took Zephyr into their home a couple of months ago. As shy and quiet as the boy was, he quickly opened up to them and already had an attachment to Rani. No matter where she went, he stuck to her like glue, especially in new places or meeting unfamiliar people.

In comparison to the disheartened face Zeb first met with, the smile that the boy had now was one that Zeb hoped he would have the rest of his life.

Closest to their house, Kallus was sitting on his knees in the dirt, talking to Gallangher with a familiar happy smile that Zeb easily recognized and could almost hear his partner's gentle voice as his mouth moved, probably talking to the three-year-old Lasat twin about the grass that the little boy was twirling in his fingers. Zeb watched as Kallus took another blade, ripping it to hold in his fingers as he brought the tip to the boys cheeks. Zeb's heart glowed and a chuckle rocked his chest as he watched Kallus laugh and heard it mix with Gallangher's giggles, watching the boy try to swat the tingling feeling away.

"Zahir'o!"

Zeb's eyes immediately looked up and saw Rani staring at him, an excited look on her face.

Everyone began to follow her lead as Zeb watched the rest of his family look up at him. He gave his daughter a smile before Zephyr put the play back in motion, running after Rani again, making Gabrielle giggle in laughter again. Rani picked up on the que as Zephyr almost tagged her, making her run through the grass again to try and get away, her attention reclaimed again in play, though she seemed to have a brighter smile on her face.

Kallus, on the other hand, was moving Gallangher, pointing up at Zeb as he spoke to the boy. Noticing Zeb, the child's features immediately widened. Pushing off of the doorway, Zeb walked across the porch and down the steps towards them, grinning as the boy also began to walk to him as well. When the boy was close enough, Zeb leaned down slightly and swung his arms to catch him, bringing the boy into a hug close to his chest. Giggling, the boy hugged Zeb back resting his face against Zeb's shoulder.

"Morning, Gal," Zeb told him, rubbing the boy's back as the child leaned more into him.

With a wide smile on his face, Kallus eased himself to his feet, a slight strain in his legs from being bent as they were for so long. Standing up straight, Kallus smiled as he walked over to them as well.

"Morning," Kallus told him, "I'm guessing that since you slept in, you had a good sleep."

Nodding, opening his mouth to answer before he felt Gallangher lean back. Looking back down at him, the boy stared up at Zeb with hopeful eyes.

"Zahir'o, Daddy, can I play with the others until breakfast is ready?" he asked.

"Of course!" Zeb encouraged, already moving to set the boy back down on the ground. As soon as his feet hit the dirt, the toddler was already running towards the long grass to the others, yelling to his siblings that he was going to join them. As the boy came into the play, it was like the missing piece of a puzzle finally fitting into the others.

Zeb stood there, watching them as Kallus moved closer, his eyes on their children as well.

"The caf should still be warm," Kallus told him.

"I saw that. I'll probably get one in a couple of minutes."

"Me too, probably. Hera said she'd come around with Jacen in a couple of hours."

"Sounds good."

As the two stood side by side, staring at the four laughing children as they ran through the grass, Gallangher's head just poking up from the top, they could only smile.

Because neither of them ever thought that they would have this.


	9. Even In Sleep - Modern AU

**_Summary: Modern AU, Kanan comes home to his family to find that his adopted son's boyfriend was outed._**

 ** _A/N: This idea sort of came to me one night and I thought I'd write it out when I couldn't get it out of my head. This is a modern au where Kallus and Zeb are dating. This chapter may be triggering for some readers as it deals with abuse and some harsh situations that a lot of people face when they are outed or come out to their family. If you feel like this chapter will upset you or trigger you, please do not read!_**

 ** _That being said, if you want me to continue writing more of this au, please tell me as I have a few ideas. If you can read this chapter, please let me know what you think!_**

Turning off his car, Kanan sighed as the front lights quickly drifted off, a glow quickly getting smaller and smaller until there was darkness in the car and to the house, the only light coming from the streetlight a few steps down from their driveway.

Looking up at his house, he was surprised to see that many of the lights were out, a soft glow only coming from a couple of windows through the blinds. Opening the door and pulling out of the car, Kanan heard the small echo of the slam of the car door when it shut. He always hated having the night shifts, it was always so quiet when he got home this late, nothing to be heard but the wind and traffic. Sometimes he liked the sounds of the night, sitting out on the deck with Hera with a cup of tea, but when it was this late the sounds of the night went from frogs and bugs to just traffic sounds.

Walking up the few steps to the deck and front door, Kanan checked the door, finding it unlocked before easily walking in and shutting the door behind him, locking it. Considering that Hera was still up, the house was pretty silent. She always locked the door if she went to bed early, and if not she was usually on the living room couch or chair, reading the next book of hers on the bookshelf with the evening news playing in the background. The living room light was on, but it was empty, the television off. Looking to the other side of the small hallway to the doorway into the kitchen, he saw those lights were also off.

Hearing soft pats, Kanan looked down and saw Chopper slowly walking from the kitchen area, looking annoyed that Kanan had woken him up. The grey and orange cat only stared at him for a few moments, looking as though he was glaring daggers up at him.

"Where is everyone, Chopper?" Kanan asked.

The cat just kept glaring at him before giving an ugly, quiet meow before turning, walking back into the dark kitchen.

Kanan rolled his eyes, shaking his head. It was an ugly cat, and a cat that hated him. Kanan was sure that the cat had made up schemes and plans to kill him at least a few times every night, but that Thing was Hera's. And it didn't mind the kids either. Perhaps the cat didn't hate him as much as he thought….perhaps.

Kicking off his boots, confused and a little worried, Kanan walked through the living room to the other side, going through the doorway to the short hallway to the stairs. Looking up, more lights were on upstairs. A few soft glows seemed to be coming from different sides of he hallway.

His brows furrowing slightly, Kanan slowly walked up the steps, ears listening for anything going on. At this time of night, even on a Friday, the kids were all usually asleep by now, but as he got further up the steps he saw that the light to he and Hera's bedroom was on, so was the bathroom and a soft glow came from under the doorway of Zeb and Ezra's room.

Hearing soft whispering from his right, Kanan turned towards the bathroom.

"Hera?" he whispered, still slightly confused.

The whispering had instantly stopped. In the small opening, Kanan just barely caught a glimpse into the room. He could only see along one side of the room, and even then that was very short. Hera was kneeling by the toilet. For a brief moment Kanan worried that she was sick, but he noticed that she wasn't close enough to it. There was someone else on it…Kallus. He could barely see the white shoulders, completely slouched.

Kanan saw Hera move and from the shadow against the wall, he knew that she had looked over her shoulder at the doorway before she looked back into the room.

"I'll go talk to your father," Hera spoke in a whisper. Who else was in there? "Kallus, keep that against your eye. Don't press too hard though."

He saw a shadow nod and Kanan almost didn't believe it was Kallus's. It was too small.

Still looking through the doorway, Kanan watched confused but patiently as he watched Hera move to stand up and turn. As she moved towards the door, her shadow and body covered up the opening for a second before she opened the doorway a little bit, only to get herself through. Kanan's eyes were trailed to the opening from the door though. As Hera began to shut the door behind her, Kanan only caught the brief image of Kallus sitting hunched on the toilet, fully clothed but holding a bag of frozen peas to the side of his face, looking away as though he sensed that Kanan was looking at him. Zeb was sitting on the edge of the tub close-by beside him, holding a hand on Kallus's shoulder of comfort, completely focused on him, while both held the other's free hand tightly on Kallus's lap.

As soon as Hera shut the door, hearing the click, it was like the spell was broken. Kanan immediately looked up at his wife. Her face was soft, yet he could see the hard interior of what she was feeling, her eyes the same. There was a small flame of hurt, but a larger one of anger.

Hera cleared her voice slightly before she whispered, already moving to grip his arm and walk forward to lead him before her words spoke, "lets go to our room."

Kanan barely had time to take one last look at the door before Hera was almost pulling him into their room by his arm. Kanan had no option but to oblige and follow her, almost tripping ever so slightly from her momentum pulling him before he was able to regain balance and follow her down the dark hallway.

As soon as they stepped into their bedroom, Hera pulled him in and shut the door behind him and turned the light on before Kanan even had the chance to reach for it. Turning to each other, Kanan looked her over. The room was quiet, the entire house seemed silent right now.

"I put Sabine and Ezra to bed early when Kallus came. I told them they could read for a little while but I'm pretty sure both fell asleep," Hera told him.

"Hera, what is going on?" Kanan asked, keeping his voice lowered, though not quite a whisper.

She sighed and brought a hand to rub the back of her neck. It was only then Kanan has seen how it was slightly disheveled, a few strands of the brown hair now fallen onto her shoulders.

"Kallus is going to be staying with us for a while," she told him.

Kanan thought for a moment, trying to piece things together.

"Did he get into a fight with his parents?" he asked, slightly confused. That would be a surprise to him. Kallus may have had small disagreements with his parents, but as far as Kanan had seen and heard, Kallus was practically their Golden Boy. Well behaved, a student on many sports team with an incredible academic standing enough to get him an early acceptance into any ivy-league school they wanted, Kallus's parents prided and paraded him so much he was practically a trophy for them.

But Hera's face faltered a little bit as she heaved in a sigh.

"Not exactly," Hera answered, her voice also only a bit above a whisper so that the kids wouldn't hear them. She brought her hands down and crossed her arms before answering, "Kallus got kicked out."

Brows immediately furrowing, Kanan looked at his wife, clearly confused. He stared at her for a moment, trying to think about that statement.

Before he could ask the question verbally, Hera was already answering him.

"Do you remember Matthew Thrawn?" Hera asked. "We met him a few times when Zeb used to be on the wrestling team? He's a few grades above Zeb."

Kanan didn't need to think about it too long. There were only so many people on the wrestling team, and Zeb and Thrawn had always had problems with each other, so he heard the name constantly. His parents also never missed a chance to parade their son and his amazing top of his class academic standing and sports medals.

"Yeah," he answered them. It wasn't hard to bring the picture to his mind. Tall, thin faced, and constantly looking as though he was unimpressed with everything he ever saw besides when he won.

Hera hesitated for a moment, before explaining, "he outed Kallus late last night. I guess rumours were spread more around school and by the end of the day they made it to his parents."

Blinking at his wife, it wasn't long before Kanan actually realized he had the feeling as though his stomach was collapsing in on him. An immediate memory came to mind when Kallus had invited Zeb to a social barbecue his parents were hosting and his parents then invited he and Hera to attend.

It was a few months after Zeb admitted that he was seeing someone. A few weeks later, Zeb had been a little nervous as he asked if he could invite someone to dinner. It was a classy night, a suit and tie and fancy dress event with classy champagne and wine that probably costed more than his car insurance. But what stood out the most was that it was _Zeb_ who introduced himself to Kallus's parents as a _friend_ of his. That was after Zeb told them they were dating and after Kanan had seen the two leaning against each other on the couch, and the soft touches they would have when they thought no one was looking, and the pure smile when they would laugh together at a joke one of them made. Hera and Kanan never fell for the 'friend' excuse when Zeb invited Kallus over that first night, and they had never had a problem with the relationship.

But the instant that Zeb said those words the implied message was perfectly clear. The two supported that story instantly.

It was a subject that both of them knew was off limits. Kanan didn't know how much Hera wondered about it, but neither of them spoke about it to Zeb or Kallus. They understood when they would spend more time here to be together, or when Zeb would ask Kanan to cover for them.

As the memory faded, something else filled his mind.

 _"Kallus, keep that against your eye. Don't press too hard though."_

The image of Kallus slouched on the toilet with shoulders slumped.

The frozen bag of peas against his face.

"Did they hurt him?!" Kanan's voice got a little louder, anger burst from him before he fully realized it was there.

"Kan…Kanan!" Hera's voice got more alert as her husband turned around, opening the door in swift movements, his shoulders up and tense as a look of anger had gripped his features.

Quickly following after him, Hera almost leaped forward to grab his arm to stop him as Kanan stood at the top of the staircase. He barely turned towards her as she told him in a hushed voice, "Kanan, you can't go charging to the Kallus house."

"Like hell I won't," Kanan growled, though his feet stopped so that he didn't pull her. Words couldn't begin to express his anger, even just to fully explain the justification of it he was so livid. Just the image of Kallus injured and slouched in defeat in their house and knowing that his parents had hurt hm after finding out he was gay was enough of a self-starting inferno. He wasn't sure what he would do exactly when he got there, maybe thoughts wouldn't have anything to do with it, just reactions—

"Kanan!" Hera whispered harshly to get him out of his thoughts.

Letting out a breath, Kanan turned to look over his shoulder at her.

"Kanan, I know you're upset. I am too. But you are needed _here_ ," Hera told him, her voice more gentle but still of a tone that Kanan knew not to question.

Staring at her for a moment, Kanan's shoulders slowly began to drop as they lost their tension. There was still anger, he didn't know when that fire would go away if it ever would, but he knew that she was right.

He let out another long breath of air before he told her in a whisper, "alright."

She nodded, letting go of his arm.

"How is he?" Kanan asked, not sure if he should know if it started up his rage again, but at the same time he knew that he needed to know.

Hera stared at him for a moment, almost thinking the same thoughts as him before she finally answered, "he's a little banged up. He's got a pretty dark eye and a few bruises. I think the worst thing is that he says his one chest side hurts. I might take him in to the hospital just to make sure it's not something worse."

Pressing his lips together, Kanan breathed in a long, deep breath through his nose until he was holding it, almost feeling dizzy before he let it out through his nose again.

"Why don't you start getting the couch ready for Kallus. I don't think either are really up for talking about it tonight. We can make more of a plan tomorrow," Hera told him, hoping to get his mind and activity onto something else.

Kanan nodded. Tomorrow would be Saturday. He wouldn't need to worry about Zeb and Kallus going to school just yet, but that would mean Ezra and Sabine would be home.

"Maybe I'll call Ahsoka and ask if she can take Sabine and Ezra for the day," Kanan suggested.

Pausing on the idea for a moment, she finally nodded in agreement. "It'd probably be better if they weren't around," she agreed.

Kanan nodded before he let out another sigh. He looked back at the doorway to the bathroom before he turned to her again. "I'll get things ready….and Hera?"

She raised an eyebrow to him.

"Thanks for…calming me back down," he admitted.

She nodded and gave him an ever small smile. She patted his arm before telling him, "you're welcome. And your reaction was fair. We need to focus on Kallus right now."

Kanan nodded before he watched her begin to walk back to the bathroom to help the boys again. As she walked, she commented in a low voice to him, "besides, I need you here to be my alibi when I go over to the Kallus house with a baseball bat."

Kanan snickered from the comment, but he couldn't be completely sure she was wasn't lying.

As Hera moved into the bathroom again, Kanan was already walking back down the stairs, moving almost mechanically as his mind went back into his thoughts as they went through everything that happened since he got home.

Once downstairs, a small idea came into the back of his head, a bit behind his recollections, but it softly drifted above the water enough to make him head to the kitchen and start a cup of hot chocolate.

~.~

It was only about ten minutes later when Kanan heard footsteps creeping down the steps before stepping across the family room, muted slightly when they reached the rug around the couch. Although Kanan could tell that he was trying to keep quiet, even a feather could make those steps creak. He had been in the kitchen, his back to the family room as he finished making the hot chocolate, stirring a spoon lightly around the cup to make sure that they mix was infused in well.

Picking up the steaming blue cup, Kanan carefully walked into the family room. Kallus was already laying along the couch, looking down at his phone and propped up by the old pillow on one side, under the blanket that Kanan had set up. It wasn't much, but they always had blankets at easy access for the kids if they ever needed them during the night and they had kept old pillows, mostly flattened and replaced from the beds, for situations like this (and for forts).

Kallus looked up from his phone for a moment, realizing it was Kanan. He tried to give off a small smile, but only one side of his lips turned up. The father realized that Kallus was wearing one of Zeb's sweaters, which was a little big on him. That said something considering Kallus wasn't at all a small person either. Kanan had to remind himself not to stare, but his eyes still didn't stop sizing up Kallus. Hera was right, he saw the split lip, the bruises near the bottom of his jaw, and a pretty damning black eye but it didn't look too bad at least. It didn't look like it would swell up so he couldn't open it, but it would be painful for a little while.

"Here," Kanan offered Kallus the cup, still forcing the cap on his anger as he looked at the bruises. "I thought that you could use this."

The teenager stared at the cup before setting his phone back down. Taking it with both hands, Kallus gave him a slightly bigger, more grateful smile. He held the warm cup in his hands, hoping it would warm himself up a bit more.

Realizing the silence in the room, almost hearing the ticks of the clock on the wall, Kanan asked Kallus, "how are you feeling? Hera said that your side hurt."

Looking down at himself, more towards the side in question, Kallus then shrugged before looking back up at him.

"It hurts a little, but it's more an ache now. I think it'll be fine by morning," Kallus answered him, hopeful at least.

Hearing the small notification go off, both Kallus and Kanan turned to look at the phone laying beside Kallus, half hidden from the blanket. Kallus picks it up, checks it before quickly making a text back with one hand before setting it down again.

Although Kanan wasn't sure if he should ask, he wondered if it was his parents or family messaging about it, or if it was more comments from people at his school.

"Who are you talking to?" Kanan tried to ask him casually.

The teenager looked up at him, not fooled, but the sides of his lips tugged up slightly.

"My brother," he answered. "He said that he's going to try and sneak out some of my clothes and other things and bring them over tomorrow."

Kanan nodded, thinking for a moment on how to proceed, but Kallus was already ahead of him.

"He feels bad about what happened," Kallus answered, "but… well…"

Kanan nodded. It was hard to go up against your parents sometimes, or even just adults who were supposed to care for you in general. He was thankful he was with his adopted mother, but he remembered how many caretakers of the orphanage weren't as warm hearted.

"That's good at least," Kanan told him. He or Hera could try contacting his parents as well, see if they could get more of his things. Kanan didn't know what they would do with his old things, but he doubted they would keep it if they were sure about not letting Kallus back. Not to mention, but there was no way Kanan, and he knew Hera too, was going to let him go back to people like that, people who beat their child when he is no longer their perfect shiny trophy.

Kallus looked back down at the cup in his hand, staring at it and the diamond designs at the sides of the cup briefly before taking a small gulp, Kallus relished in the feeling of the warmth moving through him.

"Thanks, Mr. Jarrus," Kallus told him before a frown began to slowly pull down his lips. "I mean….for all this. I…"

The frown that slowly captured Kanan's face was not completely directed towards Kallus, but more of himself.

Carefully, he moved towards Kallus and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, patting it lightly. The teenager looked up at him and Kanan looked back down at him, staring into the boy's eyes, with a serious, yet still gentle look on his face.

"We take care of family," Kanan told him gently, needing Kallus to know this, needing him to know that he didn't need to thank them for doing this. They took care of family. They protected family. "And don't you ever apologize for this, or who you are."

The two stared at each other a few seconds, Kallus staring up at him, his chest building up and it held unconsciously before he let it out, finally nodding. Kanan gave him a small smile before giving Kallus a last small pat on the shoulder before letting his hand slide down. He looks towards the kitchen before telling Kallus, "the stove light will be on if you need anything in there." Looking around the room, he gestures a little shrug towards the television. "And you can put the tv on too, if it'll help."

Kallus nodded. Before he could say anything else, Kanan was already walking to the stairway at the edge of the room. He turned to look over his shoulder, asking the teen, "do you want me to shut off the light?"

Kallus nodded. As Kanan moved, his hand now hovering over the light switch, he turned back to Kallus again.

"If you need anything, at all, or if your chest gets worse, Hera and I are upstairs," Kanan told him.

The teenager nodded, giving him a small smile of thanks. Kanan still didn't like the look of the multiple bruises around Kallus' face, and knew that he never would, but at least he was away from them now. As Kanan turned off the light, the bruises still appeared in his mind, burning into them, knowing they would serve as a reminder if the Kallus' ever tried to come near their son again.

Walking back up the stairs, Kanan briefly heard "night Mr. Jarrus" come from downstairs. Standing at the top, Kanan smiled and answered back in a low voice, "good night Kallus."

There was a silence after, a slight peace to it. Letting out a bit of a sigh, Kanan began to walk to his own bedroom, hoping that Hera was there. He doubted either of them would get a lot of sleep, but it would be nice to at least be able to talk with her and be near her. It would calm them both down.

On his way down the hallway, he caught a small light un the crack of the doorway to Zeb and Ezra's room. The father stopped for a moment, staring at the soft glow of the light before he sighed and moved towards the other bedroom.

Knocking ever so slightly first in case Ezra was sleeping, Kanan gently pushed open the door, holding the knob as he looked in. Ezra was in his bed, his back to the door and Zeb's turned on beside lamp. The older boy was pacing almost as he got things ready for bed, as though a mix of moving mechanically and his thoughts pausing this mechanical action and causing it to happen over and over again.

"Zeb?" Kanan asked gently.

The teenager turned quickly, staring at Kanan now.

Staring into the large, fear filled eyes, Kanan quickly stepped forward. The teenager's chest was moving up and down rapidly, as though it was on the brink of something between a panic attack and a sob.

"Zeb?" he asked, worried.

"I never should have let him go home alone," Zeb rambled, his breathing getting a little worse. "I knew something might happen, that the rumours would spread…he told me to go home and I shouldn't have listened to him. I shouldn't have let him go home alone…."

"Zeb?" Kanan brought his hands on top of Zeb's shoulders, gently squeezing them to help catch his attention. The teenager looked at Kanan, his eyes searching around Kanan's face, his chest still puffing slightly but it wasn't as uncontrollable anymore.

"I knew it was likely that his parents somehow found out about it," Zeb told him, his breathing slowly becoming more regular again. "I shouldn't have let him go home. I just should have brought him here…"

"Zeb what's happened is done," Kanan told him gently. "Kallus isn't seriously hurt, he'll be able to stay here, and we will sort all of this out."

The teen stared at Kanan, thinking about the words before he finally, slowly, nodded.

"Okay," Zeb agreed weakly.

Kanan patted his shoulder before telling the other as he let his arms drop, "try and get some sleep. We'll make a better plan in the morning."

Zeb nodded again, leaning back more and running a hand through his short hair. He let out a final sigh and Kanan's own held in breath let out as well.

"Try and get some sleep, okay," Kanan told him.

Zeb nodded once again, looking up at Kanan before slowly sitting down in his bed.

"Thanks, Kanan," Zeb told him in a small voice.

Kanan gave Zeb a smile.

"Goodnight, Zeb," he answered.

Zeb gave him another nod, but Kanan knew what it meant after all these years. Zeb didn't always talk to get out a message, and he and Hera knew how to pick up on that.

Turning, Kanan left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him before he moved back to his own room again, a low light coming from under the door of that room too. He knew that Hera would be full of thoughts as well, and that neither of them would get a lot of sleep that night.

Kanan didn't quite know where Kallus was going to stay and how they would make it work, but he knew that they would. Kallus was family the moment that Zeb brought him home, the moment that he and Zeb were together. They took care of family.

~.~

Jerking awake, Kanan closed his eyes tightly again once the light hit his eyes from the open window. Testing his eyes against the light again, he let out low groan as he shifted in the bed, stretching out his legs a bit more. Taking in the relieved feeling, he turned carefully in the bed, finding Hera still sleeping soundly. He couldn't quite remember when she fell asleep last night, probably around the same time as him, but he'd let her sleep in still either way.

Moving to lean up on one elbow, Kanan looked over her shoulder to the clock on the night stand. 9:30. That wasn't so bad for timing, although he was surprised that it wasn't more louder around the house. Usually everyone else was up by now, someone playing music, usually Zeb or Sabine, one person watching television at a decent volume that could be heard clearly from the bedrooms.

He sighed, running a hand down his face before he forced himself out of the bed, moving quickly but gently to make sure he didn't wake Hera, though he was sure she knew still, it was still in a sleepy haze.

Walking from the bed, he barely looked at himself as he passed the mirror, quickly going to the door to find out where everyone was.

Shutting the door silently behind him, Kanan noticed Sabine's room door open. Walking down the hallway a bit more, Kanan slowly looked through the doorway, coming more into view. The fourteen-year-old was still in her pyjamas with her earbuds to her phone, already at her art easel working on another project, something purple…almost like a galaxy…and a bird?

Feeling his eyes on her, Sabine turned looking at him before pulling one earbud out.

"Hey, Kanan," Sabine greeted.

"Pretty quiet this morning," Kanan commented, looking back to the easel. He gestured a bit with his shoulder to it. "That's looking good."

The girl looked over at it before shrugging, "still have a lot to do." She looked back at him and answered, "and we wanted to be quiet so Zeb and Kallus could still sleep. I think Ezra's still down there eating breakfast."

Kanan nodded before looking over his shoulder. The door to the boy's room was still shut, so maybe Zeb still was sleeping.

"Kanan?"

Kanan turned back to look at her, a little shocked, especially when he saw her face had fallen a bit, "yes?"

"Is Kallus going to be okay? Ezra and I…well we heard what happened." she asked, her voice lower as though worried that Kallus would hear her from downstairs.

Pausing for a few seconds, Kanan finally nodded, "yes, he'll be alright. We have to figure some things out, but we will. Don't worry about that."

The teen nodded understandingly. She looked as though she had a few more silent thoughts before she moved to look back at her painting, beginning to work on it again. He didn't know if she was relieved in the words he said, or if she just wanted to get the situation out of her mind. When he had come home last night they had already been asleep, or at least in their rooms so he didn't know how much they had heard or knew about what was going on.

"Hera and I will talk to you and Ezra a little bit later, okay," he told her.

Sabine nodded, not looking away from her painting, already moving her brush over it again.

Deciding not to stay and wanting to check on Kallus, Kanan silently moved out of the room and began walking down the halls to the staircase. Silently walking down the stairs, Kanan almost heard his footsteps echoing in the silence. It was almost eerie. The closer he got downstairs, he began to hear the small whispers of music and voices he didn't quite recognize. Kallus must've turned on the television to give some background sound last night to help him sleep.

With his feet hitting the ground, Kanan was still silent as he walked towards the living room, his steps getting slower as though that would help his steps to become more quiet. Taking a second or two between his steps, Kanan slowly rounded the doorway into the living room.

Peaking his head around the opening, Kanan's eyes first went to the couch and within a second, his face softened, his shoulders slowly falling as his tension released. Moving to stand in the doorway, a tug gently pulled at the father's lips as he looked to the couch. With the sun's rays slowly filling the room, Kallus was still sleeping, curled slightly on the bed. His body was still slightly tangled in the blanket and even curled he seemed too big for the couch. With one arm hanging down from the side, his hand was grasping Zeb's. Sometime in the night, probably not long after Kanan had left his room, Zeb had come downstairs and was now laid out along the side of the couch, his head rested on his bed pillow, the blanket had been pulled down from it as well. Both of them were fast asleep.

Seeing movement from the corner of his eye, Kanan turned his head, only to see Ezra quietly walking out from the doorway to the kitchen from this side, a bowl of Sugar Crisp cereal in hand with Chopper walking beside him. Ezra stared at him for a moment before walking on.

"Morning," Ezra told him in a quiet voice.

"Good morning," Kanan whispered back.

"I'm going back upstairs, if that's okay," Ezra told him.

Kanan nodded, watching as Chopper was pushing on Ezra's back legs as though to try and encourage him forward. Impatient cat.

"Yeah," Kanan answered.

Ezra nodded, moving forward after another push to his legs. Kanan had to fight the urge to roll his eyes, but let the two walk back upstairs, a few of the steps creaking, but that didn't seem to make the house any louder than the silent that it was already in.

Looking back into the living room, Kanan looked at the two teens again. Kallus's eye was still dark, and he knew that it would be swollen, probably unable to really open for today, but Kallus seemed comfortable here, and definitely with Zeb. Looking at their interlocked hands, held tightly even in their sleep, Kanan knew that they would be okay. There may be a few bumps in the next few days, but at he knew that they would be okay.


End file.
